Childhood - Charlie Chaplin was born on the 15th of April 1889, in London.

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Introduction

Childhood Charlie Chaplin was born on the 15th of April 1889, in London. He was taught to sing before he could speak and could dance as soon as he could walk. From an extremely young age, he was told that he was going to be 'the most famous person who ever lived'. That was his life ambition and he would do anything to achieve it. When he was five years old he sang on stage for his mother who had been taken ill. At the age of eight, he appeared in a dancing act, called 'Eight Lancashire Lads'. On both occasions, he was loved by everyone in the audience and was excited by the attention he received. His half-brother, Sidney, acted as his agent when he was ten, and within a few years Charlie was one of the most popular child actors in England. He was only twelve when his father died at the age of thirty-seven, of alcoholism. Charlie's mother, as a result of her husband's death, became a psychotic woman who was often taken away to mental institutions. Charlie and Sidney were soon placed in a charity home, where he attended two years of school at Hern Boy's College. This was the only formal education he ever received. He was at school when his mother suffered a mental breakdown and was taken away to an institution. ...read more.

Middle

This is the equivalent of over $20,000 a week (which was a substantial amount of money during the early 1900's). I am sure that when Chaplin was earning $125 a week, he did not dream of making 160 times that amount, just four years later. This increase in wages brought him other things too. Chaplin was twenty-nine when he became involved with sixteen year old movie star, Mildred Harris. On October 23rd, 1918, they were suddenly married. He was hugely talented, handsome, rich and famous and by the early 1920's, no studio could afford his talents. He only appeared in films produced by himself. Then movies with sound came out, called 'talkies'. When Chaplin was asked about these, he replied,'' Talkies are spoiling the oldest art in the world- the art of pantomime. They are ruining the great beauty of silence. They are defeating the meaning of the screen.'' Despite his obvious lack of education this interview portrays a man of intelligence and full of common sense. FBI's false accusations Then disaster struck. Chaplin was accused of being a communist. He had no answer to prove the accusations wrong except that it was his constitutional right. However this was not enough and forty years after coming to the United States to boost his career, he was being forced out. The FBI then started work to find out what was going on. The extensive files on Chaplin maintained by the FBI totalled more than nineteen hundred pages. ...read more.

Conclusion

Unfortunately this brought back fresh accusations of pro-communism, which Chaplin specifically denied. These accusations were quickly dropped. In 1972, Chaplin was honoured at the Academy Awards as an all round wonderful comedian, actor and loving person. This was his first time back to the United States since the accusations, but the crowd loved him. In 1977, on the 25th of December (Christmas day), Chaplin passed away of natural causes in his home in Switzerland. He was eighty-eight years old and marries to Oona at the time, who was his wife for thirty-six years. Conclusion Charlie Chaplin's most famous films that brought him the most admiration and controversy were: * The Kid (1920) * The Gold Rush (1925) * City Lights (1931) * Modern Times (1936) * The Great Dictator (1940) * Monsieur Verdoux (1947) * Limelight (1947) After these films he was recognised as 'the most famous person who ever lived'. We can definitely say that he came close or even achieved his life long ambition. He was a man who had a huge impact on the lives of Americans during the world wars and hard times of depression. He made people laugh for the first time in a long time and changed the way they looked at the world despite his own troubles. Even though his films were in black and white, he put a lot of colour into everyone's life. He had an eventful life and is now seen is a legend. His films were for the underdog, and with great pity and understanding, his films were about him. ...read more.

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